The method is specifically applicable for collection and transfer of various substances, such as for example: micro-organisms, antibodies/antigens, antimicrobial acting substances, nucleotides, antibiotics, hormones, DNA sequences, enzymes, enrichment substances or selective supplements of cultivatable terrain, and in general organic material, biological material or of biological origin or the like.
The prior art comprises very numerous applications in which known quantities of analytes must be used, such as organic or biological substances, for various analytical or diagnostic needs. For example, company programs for verifying microbiological quality include the use of standard micro-organism cultures for verification that the requisites indicated by the reference standards have been met. For this purpose, microbiological controls are performed for verifying and validating the laboratory methods and procedures, which can for example comprise controlling the effectiveness of the selective and nutritional components of soil used for microbe culture, and also for verification of the effectiveness of inactivation operations of micro-organisms, or other for other purposes.
A further known example is given by diagnostic kits which are provided with positive and negative controls of a substance to be identified and which enable control and validation of the kit itself, as well as the test procedure and preparation of the sample to be analysed. For example, in search and identification tests of a bacterium, aimed at diagnosis of present or previous infections, such in the specific case of Staphylococcus aureus in a test for agglutination, a positive control performed using a sample of the bacterium must provide evident agglutination, while a negative control of the same bacterium must give no agglutination within the predetermined times included in the analytical protocol.
In a further example, in research kits for food matrix inhibitors, as in the specific case of research for antimicrobials in a milk test, a positive control performed using a solution containing an antibiotic must provide a positive result in the set times and in accordance with the test procedures.
Normally, positive controls are supplied in liquid form or freeze-dried in pellets, or powder to be re-hydrated before use, as the limited stability of rehydrated positive controls limits working life thereof significantly. Further, quantitative release in the case of controls supplied on a support is generally limited, so to obtain a positive test response, there is a general tendency to use an excess of control sample of the substance to be researched such as to exceed the quantitative threshold for each test.
As is known in the field of microbial resistance tests, after isolating the micro-organism it is necessary to determine which substance can combat the micro-organism, and in which concentration. Normally these tests are carried out by preparing a series of serial dilutions starting from a known matrix solution. The procedure for preparing the dilutions is laborious and therefore has negative economic effect on productivity of the processes carried out in the analytical laboratory. The collecting and transfer devices of known type generally used in laboratories are constituted for example by Pasteur pipettes, syringes, pads or spoons.
In all the above-cited examples, and in general in all analyte transfer methodologies and following analysis thereof, there are numerous problem areas. These problem areas are linked for example to the complexity of the preparation procedures of the analytes and the difficulties in transferring and conserving them. Note that many analytes require, for their conservation over time, very specific and controlled environmental conditions. Also the correct quantification of analytes is often complex, especially in a case of use of very small quantities of analytes, as the only way for obtaining the desired small quantity consists in preparing an analyte solution when needed having a known concentration and in directly removing a part of the solution immediately after having prepared it.
Often long, complex and expensive operations are required in order to be able to perform analysis. Further, various known analytic methodologies require the use of extremely precise quantities of analyte, for the performance of comparative tests or other analyses, and this is often difficult to obtain, if not with delicate and laborious operations. In other words, with the prior art it is not possible to avail of various types of analyte each time there is a need there for, in the quantities and specific modes suitable for the required application.